The Papua New Guinea prime minister has seen off another attempt to unseat him following mass defections across the major parties which sparked political chaos in Port Moresby.
Dozens of ministers and MPs had resigned or withdrawn from alliances over dissatisfaction with O’Neill’s leadership and in particular his unilateral handling of a multibillion-dollar gas deal which opponents said was a poor outcome for PNG. A vote of no confidence had been scheduled for next week.
But after a fiery session in parliament, in which O’Neill was accused of “destroying the economy”, launching a failed health policy and presiding over the collapse of resource deals, the prime minister secured a three-week adjournment designed to stall the no confidence vote.
O’Neill defended his record against attack from shadow treasurer, Ian Ling-Stuckey, labelling talk of a declining economy and living standards as “fake news”.
He said the World Bank, IMF and ADB had all given credit to his government for managing the economy well. Analysts have expressed serious concerns over the data used by such organisations when assessing PNG.
After the parliamentary sitting ended, O’Neill flagged “structural changes” in government business, as well as potential court action, should there be a vote of no confidence.
He said the adjournment would enable the government to fill the vacant ministerial posts and fully brief the new ministers.
O’Neill said his party retained the same “core numbers” as before the defections, saying it was “mainly the same crowd that is moving back and forth”.
He said issues “about party leadership” had been raised, which the government would “take fully on board”.
“[T]he caucus has reaffirmed the leadership of the party to me so I have a responsibility to put the government together and to make sure that we lead it for the best interests of the country,” he said.
O’Neill said his party’s leadership would be decided at its national convention in 2021 and he urged “all the young leaders that are going to aspire for leadership roles” to put themselves forward then.
Shane McLeod, researcher with the Lowy Institute in Australia, said O’Neill had demonstrated his “strong political skills” with the adjournment.
“The threat of a no-confidence vote still looms, but he’s robbed the opposition of momentum and forced members to re-evaluate their tactics,” McLeod said.
“The opposition put a big grouping together but couldn’t keep control of its claimed majority. If they make another attempt they will need to keep tighter control of the parliamentary process. This time they couldn’t.”
